Assessment and Modeling of Drawbar Power Necessities of Disc Plough in Sandy-clay Soil in South-East Nigeria

The incongruities between agro-ecological soil states demand statistical records of the performance of tillage equipment under various soil classifications for proper choice of implements to minimize charge, curtail energy wastage, and upsurge agricultural output. This research was carried out to assess and model the drawbar power requirements of disc plough on sandy-clay soil in South – East Nigeria that will help farmers predict the power requirements and detect the optimum value of power demand of the plough in orderto select apposite plough subject to the soil type for proficient and bravura productions. Results showed that the highest drawbar power of 5.42kW was achieved when the plough was engaged at full working width of 180 cm, at tillage depth of 15 cm and least operational speed of 6km/hr. The statistical analyses revealed that tillage depth and operational speed have a significant effect (p˂ 0.05) on the drawbar power of the disc plough compared to the effective working width of the plough.The quadratic model was statistically significant for the response (P ˂ 0.05). Results also pointed out that the coefficient of determination; R2 was 0.9759 for drawbar power, which indicated high correlations amid the factors. The adequacy Precision of 19.912 obtained indicated decorous indicator and that the models could navigate the design space. The optimum drawbar power of 4.95kW was achieved with the desirability of 1.000 at optimal effective working width of 119.06 cm, ploughing depth of 13.71 cm and operational speed of 7.74kmh-1. Farmers can henceforth, appraise and select the disc plough implements with the developed model equation

High-throughput Plasmodium falciparum hrp2 and hrp3 gene deletion typing by digital PCR to monitor malaria rapid diagnostic test efficacy

Most rapid diagnostic tests for Plasmodium falciparum malaria target the Histidine-Rich Proteins 2 and 3 (HRP2, HRP3). Deletions of the hrp2 and hrp3 genes result in false negative tests and are a threat for malaria control. A novel assay for molecular surveillance of hrp2/hrp3 deletions was developed based on droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). The assay quantifies hrp2, hrp3, and a control gene with very high accuracy. The theoretical limit of detection was 0.33 parasites/microL. The deletion was reliably detected in mixed infections with wild-type and hrp2-deleted parasites at a density of >100 parasites/reaction. For a side-by-side comparison with the conventional nested PCR (nPCR) assay, 248 samples were screened in triplicate by ddPCR and nPCR. No deletions were observed by ddPCR, while by nPCR hrp2 deletion was observed in 8% of samples. The ddPCR assay was applied to screen 830 samples from Kenya, Zanzibar/Tanzania, Ghana, Ethiopia, Brazil, and Ecuador. Pronounced differences in the prevalence of deletions were observed among sites, with more hrp3 than hrp2 deletions. In conclusion, the novel ddPCR assay minimizes the risk of false-negative results (i.e. hrp2 deletion observed when the sample is wild type), increases sensitivity, and greatly reduces the number of reactions that need to be run

Mathematical Modeling of Field Recital of Harrow in Clay – Loam Soil in South Eastern Nigeria

This research was carried out to model and optimize the efficiency of disc harrow on clay-loam soil in South – East Nigeria to assist farmers scrutinize and select appropriate harrowing implement reliant on soil type for efficacious and magnificent production. The harrowing operation was conducted at selected effective working widths, operational speeds and cutting depths using 2-gangs tandem disc harrow. The experimental design adopted in the research was a three level – three factor full factorial design. The experiment consists of three factors which were varied at three levels of harrowing depths which include 10, 20, 30 cm; three levels of effective working widths of 60, 120 and 180 cm and three levels of operational speeds (6, 7 and 8 km/hr). Central Composite Response Design which gives 17 test runs was performed for each sample. The results found that the highest field efficiency of 98.50% was obtained when the harrow was operated at the pulverizing depth of 20cm under operational speed of 7 kmh-1 and working width of 120 cm. The quadratic model equation was statistically significant (P ˂ 0.05) for the prediction of the field efficiency. Additionally, the results show that the coefficient of determination; R2 for the field efficiency was 0.9139, which indicated adequate correlations among the factors. The Predicted R² of 0.7695 was reliable with the Adjusted R² of 0.8031 which identified excellent interactions between the factors (effective working width, operational speeds and harrowing depths). The adequacy Precision (10.3749) obtained indicated seemly indicator and that the model could navigate the design space. The optimum field efficiency and the desirability of 96.66% and 0.697 were respectively attained at optimum depth of 30 cm, working width of 180 cm and speed of 6.16 kmh-1. Therefore, farm operators can henceforth, evaluate and select the harrow implements using the developed model

Comperative Performance of a Locally Developed Groundnut Decorticator with an Imported Kirlosker Decorticator

ABSTRACT The performance of a locally developed groundnut decorticator was compared with the imported kirlosker decorticator to ascertain and probably make optimal and effective use of locally developed decorticator as substitute for imported groundnut decorticator from India. The comparison was based on the following parameters; threshing/decorticating efficiency, cleaning efficiency, total grain losses, grain recovery range, capacity utilization and threshing intensity. Results obtained showed that the locally developed decorticator performed credibly better than imported decorticator. The local decorticator had threshing and cleaning efficiencies of 97.52% and 97.88% respectively with minimal total seed losses of 4.13% while the imported kirlosker decorticator recorded a threshing efficiency of 96.58% and cleaning efficiency of 97.66 with total seed losses of 7.94%. More so, the local decorticator recorded 97.26%, 63.84% and 0.038kw/kg for the grain recovery range, capacity utilization and threshing intensity respectively while the imported decorticator in that order recorded 93.92%, 61.24% and 0.013km/kg respectively. Therefore the locally developed decorticator could be substituted for the imported decorticator thereby conserving foreign exchange in Nigeria in addition to its low cost, easy maintenance and simple operation

Foot and Head Anthropometry of 18-30 Years old Nigerian Polytechnic Students

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Foot and Head Anthropometry of 18-30 Years old Nigerian Polytechnic Students

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